THE CHILD AS JUDGE.
So, Holy Writ in Babes hath judgment shown,
Where Judges have been babes.--_Shakespeare_.
O wise young judge I--_Shakespeare_.
_The Child as Judge_
Shakespeare in _All's Well that Ends Well_, makes Helen say to the
King:--
"He that of greatest works is finisher,
Oft does them by the weakest minister:
So, Holy Writ in babes hath judgment shown,
When judges have been babes."
And in the history of the human race, appeal has often been made to the
innocence and imputed discernment of the child.
As one of the glories of God, David sang in Israel of old: "Out of the
mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of
thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger." And
the disciple Matthew reiterates the thought: "Thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes"; and,
again: "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou perfected
praise."
_Solomon._
The stories told of Solomon--the judgments of the wise Hebrew monarch,
when a child, were as remarkable as those which he made after attaining
man's estate--have their counterparts in other lands. One of the most
celebrated decisions was rendered by Solomon when he was but thirteen
years of age. Well gives the story as follows (547.192):--
"The accuser had sold some property to the other, who, in clearing out a
cellar, had found a treasure. He now demanded that the accused should
give up the treasure, since he had bought the property without it; while
the other maintained that the accuser possessed no right to the
treasure, since he had known nothing of it, and had sold the property
with all that it contained. After long meditation, David adjudged that
the treasure should be divided between them. But Solomon inquired of the
accuser whether he had a son, and, when he replied that he had a son, he
inquired of the other if he had a daughter; and he also answering in the
affirmative, Solomon said: 'If you will adjust your strife so as not to
do injustice one to the other, unite your children in marriage, and give
them this treasure as their dowry.'" In many other difficult cases,
David, after the loss of the tube which, according to legend, the angel
Gabriel brought him, was aided in judgment by the wisdom and
far-sightedness of his young son. A decision similar to that of Solomon
is attributed to Buddha, when a child, and to Christ.
_Child-Judgments_.
Müllenhoff records two cases of child-judgments in his collection of the
folk-lore of Schleswig-Holstein. The first is as follows: "A branch of
the river Widau, near Tondern, is named Eenzau, from the little village
Eenz in the parish of Burkall. Where the banks are pretty high and
steep, a man fell into the water once upon a time, and would have been
drowned had not a certain person, hearing his cries, hastened to the
river, and, holding out a pole, enabled the drowning man to help himself
out. In doing so, however, he put out an eye. The rescued man appeared
at the next thing (court), entered a complaint against the other, and
demanded compensation for his lost eye. The judges, not knowing what to
make of the case, put it off till the next thing, in order to meditate
upon it in the meantime. But the third thing came, and the
district-judge had not made up his mind about it. Out of humour, he
mounted his horse and rode slowly and thoughtfully in the direction of
Tondern, where the thing was then held. He reached Rohrkarrberg, and,
opposite the house which is still standing there, lay a stone heap, upon
which sat three herd-boys, apparently busy with something of importance.
'What are you doing there, children?' asked the judge. 'We are playing
thing' (court), was the answer. 'What is the matter before the court?'
continued the judge. 'We are trying the case of the man who fell into
the Eenzau,' they answered, and the judge held his horse to await the
verdict. The boys did not know him, for he was well hidden in his cloak,
and his presence did not disturb them. The judgment rendered was, that
the man who had been rescued should be thrown into the stream again at
the same spot; if he was able to save himself, then he should receive
compensation for the eye he had lost; if he could not, the decision was
to be in favour of the other. Before the district-judge went away, he
put his hand into his pocket and gave the boys some money; then, merrily
riding to Tondern, he rendered the same judgment as the boys had given.
The fellow was unable to save himself without assistance, and was like
to have been drowned; consequently, his rescuer won the case" (508. 87,
88). The other case, said to have occurred at Rapstede, was this:--
"A tailor and a peasant, both possessing nothing more than a wretched
hut, made a bargain for so and so many bushels of corn at such and such
a price, although the tailor knew that the peasant had no money, and the
peasant knew that the tailor had a needle, but no corn. Soon the price
of corn rose, and the peasant appeared before the court to demand that
the tailor should fulfil his part of the bargain. The judges were at a
loss to decide such a matter. In this case, also, boys rendered
judgment. The decision was, that the agreement was invalid, for both,
being neighbours, had known each other's circumstances, and yet both
were culpable for having entered into such a deceitful bargain" (508.
88).
These decisions belong to the same category as that rendered by Solomon
in the case of the two women, who both claimed the same child,--a
judgment which has gone upon record in the Bible (1 Kings, iii.
16-28),--and a multitude of similar interpretations of justice found all
over the world (191. 290).
Mr. Newell, speaking of children's games in which judicial procedures
are imitated, but from whose decisions no serious results ever come,
observes (313. 123):--
"In the ancient world, however, where the courts were a place of resort,
and law was not a specialized profession, the case was different.
Maximus of Tyre tells us that the children had their laws and tribunals;
condemnation extended to the forfeiture of toys. Cato the younger,
according to Plutarch, had his detestation of tyranny first awakened by
the punishment inflicted on a playmate by such a tribunal. One of the
younger boys had been sentenced to imprisonment; the doom was duly
carried into effect; but Cato, moved by his cries, rescued him."
_Children's Ideas of Right_.
Mr. Brown, of the formal School at Worcester, Massachusetts, has given
us an excellent collection of _Thoughts and Reasonings of Children_
(194), and Signora Paola Lombroso, in her interesting and valuable
_Essays on Child-Psychology_, has also contributed to the same
subject (301. 45-72). A very recent study is that of _Children's
Rights_, by Margaret E. Schallenberger (341), of Leland Stanford, Jr.
University, California. The last author has charted the opinions of a
large number--some three thousand papers were collected--of boys and
girls from six to sixteen years of age, upon the following case, the
story being employed as specially appealing to children (341. 89):--
"Jennie had a beautiful new box of paints; and, in the afternoon, while
her mother was gone, she painted all the chairs in the parlour, so as to
make them look nice for her mother. When her mother came home, Jennie
ran to meet her, and said, 'Oh mamma! come and see how pretty I have
made the new parlour'; but her mamma took her paints away and sent her
to bed. If you had been her mother, what would you have done or said to
Jennie?"
From this extensive and most ingenious investigation, the following
results are thought to have been obtained: "Young children are less
merciful than older ones. When they appear cruel and resentful, we know
that they are exercising what they honestly consider the right of
revenge. Boys are less merciful than girls. Young children judge of
actions by their results, older ones look at the motives which prompt
them. If a young child disobeys a command and no bad result follows, he
doesn't see that he has done wrong. Punishments which, have in them the
idea of restitution are common to all ages. Girls consider the why more
than boys; they explain to Jennie oftener than boys do. Threats and
forced promises do not impress children" (341. 96).
_Jurisprudence of Child's Play_.
Pitré, the great Italian folklorist, has made a special study, though a
very brief one, of the judgments rendered by children in games and
plays,--the jurisprudence of child's play (323). His essay, which is
devoted to the island of Sicily, touches upon a field which is likely to
yield a rich harvest all over the world. The rules of the game; who
shall play and who shall not; what is "out," "taw," "in"; when is one
"it," "caught," "out"; what can one "bar," and what "choose,"--all these
are matters which require the decisions of the youthful judiciary, and
call for the frequent exercise of judgment, and the sense of justice and
equity. Of the "Boy Code of Honour" some notice is taken by Gregor (246.
21-24). Mr. Newell thus describes the game of "Judge and Jury," as
played at Cambridge, Massachusetts (312.123): "A child is chosen to be
judge, two others for jurors (or, to speak with our little informant,
_juries_), who sit at his right and left hand. Each child must ask
the permission of the judge before taking any step. A platter is brought
in, and a child, rising, asks the judge, 'May I go into the middle of
the room?' 'May I turn the platter?' 'On which side shall it fall?' If
the platter falls on the wrong side, forfeit must be paid." In Germany
and Switzerland there is a game of the trial of a thief. In the former
country: "There is a king, a judge, an executioner, an accuser, and a
thief. The parts are assigned by drawing lots, but the accuser does not
know the name of the thief, and, if he makes an error, has to undergo
the penalty in his stead. The judge finally addresses the king,
inquiring if his majesty approves of his decision; and the king replies,
'Yes, your sentence entitles you to my favour'; or, 'No, your sentence
entitles you to so many blows.' Thus we see how modern child's play
respects the dignity of the king as the fountain of law." In the Swiss
version, as Mr. Newell remarks, "the memory of the severity of ancient
criminal law is preserved," for "the thief flies, and is chased over
stock and stone until caught, when he is made to kneel down, his cap
pushed over his brows, and his head immediately struck off with the edge
of a board" (313.124).
_Boy-Moots_.
The most interesting section, perhaps, of Mr. Johnson's _Rudimentary
Society among Boys_, is that devoted to "Judicial Procedure" (272.
35-48). Fighting, arbitration, the ordeal and the wager have all been in
use as modes of settling quarrels at the McDonogh School--such matters
of dispute as arose having been left for the boys to settle among
themselves without the control of the faculty. Indeed, the advice which
Polonius gives to Laertes seems to have been ever present in the earlier
days:--
"Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
Bear't that th' opposed may beware of thee."
Following the appeal to fists came the appeal to chance and luck--the
"odd or even" marbles, the "longest straw," and like devices came into
vogue. The arbitration of a bystander, particularly of "a big boy who
could whip the others," and the "expedient of laying a wager to secure
the postponement of a quarrel," are very common. But the most remarkable
institution at McDonogh is undoubtedly the boy-moot, one of whose
decisions is reported in detail by Mr. Johnson,--an institution in
action "almost daily," and part and parcel of the life of the school.
None but the author's own words can justly portray it (272. 47, 48):--
"The crowd of boys assembled about the contestants, whose verdict
decides the controversy, is, in many respects, the counterpart of a
primitive assembly of the people in the folk-moot. Every boy has the
right to express an opinion, and every boy present exercises his
privilege, though personal prowess and great experience in matters of
law have their full influence on the minds of the judges. The primitive
idea that dispensing justice is a public trust, which the community
itself must fulfil towards its members, is embodied in this usage of the
'McDonogh boys.' The judges are not arbitrators chosen by the
disputants, nor are they public functionaries whose sole business is to
preside over the courts; but the whole body of the population declares
by word of mouth the right and wrong of the matter. This tumultuous body
of school-fellows, giving decisions in quarrels, and determining
questions of custom, reproduces with remarkable fidelity the essential
character of the primitive assembly."
Mr. Johnson was struck with "the peace and good order generally
prevalent in the community," which speaks well for the judicial system
there in vogue.
The editor, in his introductory remarks, observes:--
"Every schoolboy and every college student in his upward way to real
manhood represents the evolution of a primitive savage into a civilized
being. Every school and college reproduces the developmental process of
a human society in some of its most interesting aspects, such as
government and law. There are all stages of social development in the
student class, from actual savagery, which frequently crops out in the
very best schools and colleges, to effeminate forms of modern
civilization. There are all degrees of institutional government, from
total anarchy and patriarchal despotism to Roman imperialism and
constitutional government; although it must be admitted that
self-government among the student class--said to obtain in some American
schools and colleges--is not yet a chartered right. The regulation of
student society by itself, or by all the powers that be, presents all
phases of judicature, from the most savage ordeals to the most humane.
Student customs are full of ancient survivals, and some editions of
'College Laws' are almost as archaic as the Code of Manu. One of these
days we shall perhaps find men investigating college jurisprudence,
college government, and college politics from the comparative point of
view, and writing the natural history of the student class" (272. 3).
In the community of the sand-pile studied by Dr. Hall, "a general habit
of settling disputes, often brought to issue with fists, by means of
meetings and specifications, arose." There is room for a volume on the
jurisprudence of childhood and youth, and every page would be of
intensest interest and of value in the history of the evolution of the
ideas of justice in the human race.